Book and Author
Abdul Hameed Dogar: Islam – God’s Final Message to Mankind
By Dr Ahmed S. Khan
Chicago, IL
“For the last 50 years, I have been telling my people…that Islam is a tolerant religion because the Holy Qur'an states "There is no compulsion in religion"…and that the Islamic world, including Pakistan, has never known anything comparable to the medieval witch-hunt…”
--- Professor Dr. Annemarie Schimmel
Abdul Hameed Dogar (1924-2021) was a visionary and a dedicated leader who served the community by establishing schools and mosques, and introducing Islam to people of other faiths in the Chicagoland and Midwest region. He was the founding member and Director of the Islamic Foundation (IF) that manages a Mosque and a full-time school located in Villa Park, Illinois. Islamic Foundation is one of the largest Muslim centers in the United States. Its full-time school (K-12) is fully accredited by ISBE and NCA (HLC) in the state of Illinois. Dogar Sahib served as a Director of IF for more than four decades.
Dogar Sahib was a kind and compassionate leader who focused on building bridges across different cultures and religions. His dedication to serve the whole community irrespective of their ethnicity and religion is well known in the Chicagoland and Midwest area. He regularly invited visitors and scholars of all faiths to the Islamic Foundation to hold seminars and interfaith meetings.
Abdul Hameed Dogar was born in 1924 in the Eastern part of the province of Punjab in British India. In August 1947, when Pakistan came into being, as a result of the division of Punjab, the Eastern part of Punjab became part of India, and the Western part of Punjab became part of Pakistan. Amidst the bloodshed of Muslims who were forced to flee from East Punjab, Abdul Hameed Dogar migrated to Pakistan’s Punjab with his parents. The migration happened just after about two months of Abdul Hammed Dogar’s coming back to home after completing his Bachelor of Science in Civil engineering program from Muslim University, Aligarh. Dogar Sahib received his diploma via mail in Pakistan.
In Pakistan, he joined the Department of Irrigation, Punjab, as a civil engineer. He worked primarily on the design of water dams, reservoirs, and barrages; his name is still inscribed on Taunsa Barrage built across River Indus, as one of its designers.
Dogar Sahib came to the United States in 1962 to seek medical help for the treatment of his son who suffered from polio. He worked for the Illinois Department of Transportation (I-DOT) from 1963 until his retirement in 1991. He was a licensed Professional Civil and Structural Engineer. He designed highway I-55 and some of the bridges of highway I-355.
Dogar Sahib wrote many booklets and books on Islam. Before his departure from this earthly abode in 2017, he published his last book titled “Islam: God’s Final Message to Mankind,” with an objective to educate people of other faiths in the West about Islam.
Commenting on the challenges of the modern times and the objectives of writing the book, the author says: “There is a great confusion and misunderstanding about Islam despite the fact that Islam is basically the same religion as preached by Adam (pbuh), Moses (pbuh), Jesus (pbuh) and all other prophets sent by God. I realized that there is a great need for an accurate account of this religion…There is a great turmoil and bloodshed going on all over the world and there is a desperate need to stop it. When our God is one and we all are children of the same couple Adam and Eve, and our religion is one, then why is this bloodshed? It must stop and I am quite confident that In-sha-Allah (God willing) it will stop if we succeed in guiding the people towards the True Divine Guidance sent by God through his Messengers and if all the people truly and sincerely follow this Divine Guidance…True religion is the most precious asset of man. It embodies guidance from the Creator and Sovereign of the universe for leading a peaceful life on earth. It not only permits the fulfillment of all natural demands of mankind in a disciplined way, but also makes their fulfillment very rewarding and meritorious. But as religion is also primarily a discipline, man did not appreciate it. Instead of getting disciplined and changed by religion, man changed the religion itself according to his own passions and desires. Because of this perversion, corruption and tempering, the God-given religion of man has fallen apart…Our objective in writing this book is to remind ourselves and all people of the world that God Almighty, who alone is the Creator, Maintainer, and Sustainer of the Universe, without any shareholders and partners. He alone is the Superpower, and none else. The purpose of our life is that He and He alone is to be obeyed, worshipped, and served, and we are accountable to Him in the life hereafter for the use of all our faculties and His bounties.”
The book covers a wide spectrum of topics about Islam that include: Divine Guidance is the Only Solution for Current Crisis, Is Religion a Thing of the Past?, Essential Features of True Divine Guidance, Islam is the Only Hope for the Future, Islam on Brotherhood and Equality of Mankind, Islam on Justice, Islam and War, Islam Offers Friendship, Cooperation and Peaceful Co-Existence , Islam for Freedom and Against Forced Conversion of Religion, Importance of Belief in Life After Death, Possibility of Life After Death, Life After Death is Necessary, Essential Ingredients of Belief in Life After Death, The Purpose of Man’s Life, Islamic Concept of God, Qur'anic Arguments About the Existence of One True God (Tawheed), Why Muslims Believe that Holy Qur'an is the Book from God, Why Muslims Believe Mohammed (pbuh) is the Messenger of God, Islam Strongly Rejects Theory of Evolution, What is the Theory of Evolution, and Explanatory Translation of Surah 'Al-Fatiha' (First Chapter of Qur’an A).
The book also exhibits six appendices on the following topics: Islamic Concept of Salvation, Islam Rejects Christian Doctrine of Atonement of Sin Through Belief in the Death of Jesus (pbuh) on the Cross, Holy Qur'an Rejects Trinity and Divinity of Jesus (pbuh), A Christian Minister's Conversion to Islam by Jerald F. Dirks, Priests and Preachers Entering Islam, and Dialogue Between Islam & Christianity.
Discussing the concept that “Divine Guidance is the Only Solution for the Current Crisis,” the author observes: “There is no doubt that science and technology have brought great material progress and prosperity. But since science turned its back on God and His guidance, it has given a decent burial to peace and tranquility. Today the world is in turmoil. Mankind is at the brink of self-destruction. This is the result of man’s utter forgetfulness of God, and hence forgetfulness of all absolute moral values and their suppression by the belief that material progress and self-gratification are all that matter. Strong nations, under one pretext or another, are attacking weaker nations to usurp their material resources, and thus kill innocent people, make others homeless, and make children orphans and women widows. There is violence and bloodshed everywhere. People are sucking other’s blood, public morality is being shattered, and social well-being is destroyed. Secularism, materialism, paganism, and racism flourish. The strong devour the weak because ‘Might is Right’ rather than ‘Right is Might.’ All the powers and faculties with which God has endowed man are being used for the destruction of mankind. The gift of modern civilization is moral bankruptcy in the form of soaring crime rates, sky-rocketing divorce rates, evaporating family values, illegitimate children, single mothers, alcoholism, drug abuse, unrelenting suicide rates, child molestation, same sex marriages, loss of respect for parents and elders, robberies, murders, rapes, and the epidemic of AIDS [Covid-19].”
In the chapter titled “True Religion is Not a Thing of the Past, But a Perverted Religion is!,” the author states: “Western nations, which succeeded the Muslims in the stewardship of the world, labored under a serious disadvantage from the very beginning. They never had the good fortune to possess an unpolluted source of Revealed Knowledge or an uncorrupted fund of Divine Wisdom.”
Expounding on the emphasis of brotherhood and equality of mankind, the author writes: “The Islamic principles of the unity of God and the unity of mankind are the two natural foundations for building peace, progress, friendship, and cooperation among different peoples and nations. Together they create a bond of brotherhood between human beings… Oneness of God is the spiritual principle of human equality, with a common lineage of high and low, white, and colored, it places all men on the same plane of humanity. Islam not merely preaches, but actually practices equality and brotherhood of mankind…”
Discussing the meaning and objectives of Islam, the author states: “The very word ‘Islam’ means peace. Peace is the goal and objective of Islam. Islam is a religion of peace, justice, brotherhood, and tolerance, and envisions a peaceful world wherein each person’s dignity and freedom is protected equally.”
In the chapter titled “Islam is the Only Hope for the Future,” the author observes: “ The Islamic concept of religion as a complete way of life has considerably and uniquely widened the scope of worship. It has spiritualized all aspects of human existence. Worship is not confined to specific prayers and rituals that are to be performed on particular occasions. Every action that is taken with the intention of pleasing God and without breaking his commandments is an act of worship for which man will be rewarded. Islam does not seek to crush our natural desires, nor does it leave them uncontrolled and unrestricted.”
Referring to Islam’s emphasis on Friendship, Cooperation and Peaceful Coexistence, the author cites the Holy Qur’an’s commandment on Cooperation: “Cooperate with one another for virtue and piety and do not cooperate with one another for the purpose of evil and aggression” (Qur’an, 5:2).”
Discussing the “Importance of Belief in Life After Death,” the author observes: “Belief in our accountability before God on the Day of Judgment after Resurrection is so important that it has been an integral part of the teachings of all the Messengers of God, who were raised in different parts of the world throughout the history of mankind.”
Expounding on the Islamic concept of God, the author writes: “God is only One, not two, not three, not more; He is One in essence, not composed of many parts or components; The belief in the unity of God requires shunning polytheism; To surrender wholly in obedience to God is a prerequisite of the belief in the unity of God; He does not have any shareholders or partners: He begets not, nor was He begotten: He has no parents, no children, and no relatives; There is nothing like God, neither anything, nor anybody resembles Him, nor is anyone His match; In the entire universe, there is none, never was, and never will be, like Him, of His status, or who resembles Him in His attributes; In Arabic we call Him Allah; The English word, “God,” is a poor or imperfect translation of the Arabic word, “Allah.” The word “god” has singular and plural, and masculine and feminine, but the word “Allah” has no plural or gender. This is the personal name of the Creator of the universe and was used by the Arabs long before the time of Prophet Mohammed (pbuh). Allah has no beginning and no end. He always was and always will be. Allah is self-sufficient. He is the sole recourse, the only place of support where one needs to go to rid oneself of all troubles and pain, and to receive all that one would need…He created everything with a single word and with His will. If He so wills, He can do it again and again and more and more without losing any of His strength. There is no difference for Him between the creation of an atom and the seemingly infinite universe…”
In the concluding part of book, the author invites everyone to build new bridges of understating with Islam: “We openly invite every human being wherever they may be on God’s earth to build new bridges of understanding between themselves and the authentic Islamic faith. No one, regardless of religion or cult, should fear or cower from sincere, scholarly discussions…Over the years, numerous meetings have occurred between Islam and Christianity. Frequent dialogues have occurred in the past and many more will take place in the future.”
Islam: God’s Final Message to Mankind is a good read and an essential resource for students, educators and general readers who are in search of knowledge, wisdom, and truth. A PDF copy of book is available on the Internet at the following weblink:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxkb2dhcmFiZHV
saGFtZWVkfGd4OjYzNDg2NGI4OTdhZGJiZjE
(Dr Ahmed S. Khan – dr.a.s.khan@ieee.org – is a Fulbright Specialist Scholar - 2017-2022)
